Calling an event "the festival of good cheer" is a bold statement, but this pop concert lives up to its billing. Thousands have been flocking to the grounds behind Willingen's Sauerland Stern Hotel, a legendary party hotspot, to attend this extravaganza for six years running.

Promoter Horst Schröder may be a local, but his concert is anything but. Unrivalled in Germany, this year's Viva Willingen attracted an audience of 20,000 on a single day. Few, if any, festivals like it can put up those kinds of numbers. The line-up reads like a who's who of the old-school German pop scene: Mickie Krause, Mia Julia, Oli P., Willi Herren and many more. They have all been part of this eleven-hour party marathon for many years. And this promoter goes all out to get the audience in the right mood, as the impressive sound system would attest:

The arsenal included no less than 32 RCF HDL50-A line array modules and 16 RCF Sub 9007-A powered dual 21" subwoofers. Even without delay lines, it delivered big beats across a venue the size of two side-by-side football fields. Two arrays with six RCF TTL33-As each served as side-fills to cover the breadth of this square. Four TTL33-As provided near-fill coverage.

Ten powered RCF TT 25SMA coaxial monitors and six TTL6-A three-way systems were set up on stage, with six TTL6-AS triple 12" bass bins bringing up the bottom end.

Colito Productions, a Neuenmarkt-based event service provider, furnished all the gear. It has been providing end-to-end technical support for the festival for several years now.

Colito Productions' Michael Meister is the technical director tasked to plan and implement this support. Andreas Schöpf, Managing Director of Colito Productions, speaks highly of the organization and the festival: "It's fun to be working with Horst Schröder and his team every year and to see how the festival is constantly growing. We're already looking forward to next year!"

The eye-opening pics taken by a drone and videos posted on Viva Willingen's Facebook page show how big this festival has become. And the fact that next year's Viva Willingen has already been announced for June 22, 2019 with the full line-up shows how successful it continues to be.

Located in Urvillers in northern France, on the site of the mythical Xenon, Helios has no comparable club between Paris and Belgium. After a special opening night on Tuesday, May 29th, Hélios opened its doors to the public on Friday, June 1st. The three years extensive development work has followed a course that some have found very long, but the result, for those who have been in the fortress, sweeps away all doubts, forgiving the procrastination.

The main room of 900 sqm is set with a dance floor of 450 sqm, served by a panoramic bar 20m long. The second dancefloor, celebrates the 80s, 90s and 2000s—the nightclub generations—with 300 sqm of music and games of retro lights, lasers and a large mirror ball. Atelier du Son installed two clusters of HDL 10-A line arrays with SUB 8004-AS active subwoofers and a number of HD 12-A MK4 speakers as secondary room system and DJ monitoring. The whole system is controlled by three DX 2006 processors tuned by Prest Events.

One of the most unusual deployments of RCF’s active HDL 6-A line array has taken place at Sage Gateshead to coincide with the Great Exhibition of the North.

The installation of 40 of these compact elements was sensitively carried out by RCF partner Nitelites, to contour the curvilinear glass and stainless superstructure of the magnificent building. Its purpose is to reproduce a unique and newly commissioned work by Sheffield-based ‘sound sculptor’ Mark Fell, called Protomusic #1.

The installation was carried out in just three days and involves bespoke mounting bracketry, manufactured in house by Nitelites, enabling each speaker to be optimised at the correct tilt angle, while remaining discreet

Fell’s soundscape of real world sounds that represent the north of England, have been reproduced by 60 traditional instruments from around the world by Royal Northern Sinfonia, as well as non-professional players and independent musicians, in what amounts to three hours’ worth of material, recorded over a two-month period.

Club XL in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania celebrated their grand opening recently with a lineup that included Puddle of Mudd, Saving Abel, Tantric, etal. The newest and largest venue in south central Pennsylvania, the club features a mix of live bands along with DJ’s and EDM.

Located in a gentrifying industrial area near downtown Harrisburg, Club XL set its sights to be the hottest and latest in contemporary club design. Certainly the most elaborate sound and light systems in the region, the club features a complete light show with lasers and CO2 cannons, high energy sound system, LED video wall with numerous video screens to simulcast the entertainment located throughout the venue.

The layout includes a large dance floor, elongated bar area and back room. There’s an intimate VIP deck that offers guests a luxury experience with comfortable couches and barrel chairs with superb sightlines to the stage. There’s even an outdoor patio where you can sit beneath a 200-year-old tree, enjoy the beautiful stone fireplace and one of several fire pits, and still have a full view of the entertainment inside.

“We first became involved in the audio and lighting design for the club back in 2015,” says Hershey Solutions owner Justin Hershey. “Club owner Phil Dobson owns a number of venues in the area,” targeting this one to be the largest showpiece. “For this one he wanted a live music club with a full sensory experience.” An old warehouse converted into the club with cement floor, metal ceiling and glass garage doors made the design a challenge. “We did include acoustic treatments in the design.”

From the initial concept, “There were a lot of changes in the time between the original design and final product,” continues Hershey. “These changes were brought on by the need to meet as many tech riders as possible once a major concert promotion company got involved in the venue.” In addition, “the club owner was looking for a venue that could facilitate the needs of touring bands and DJs and provide the audience with a Las Vegas Club-style experience. He wanted to hit all senses, from a top notch sound system to the most intelligent lighting fixtures we could fit in the room. There are also CO2 cannons, lasers and a large LED wall that serves as the backdrop for the stage.”

RCF will highlight a vast range of new products at this year’s InfoComm. The new RCF product line features innovative solutions, design upgrades and exciting new advances in audio technology.

The RCF installation catalog extends the speaker range, assisting the architect and installer with application-focused series of high quality speakers. Three new RDNet compatible Vertical Steerable Array models (VSA MKII), with improved quality for highly reverberant spaces, will be presented on the booth and be available in the demo room. The MR 50 / MR 40 bass reflex speakers for A/V monitoring and reliable fixed installations, both indoor and outdoor, are also available —in both black and white options. Following the success of the passive C-MAX speakers, the near-field high-power E-MAX 3112 and 3110 extend the flexibility in the entertainment installation market with a complete range of rigging accessories.

Widely appreciated, and globally used as the primary portable system for on-the-go musicians and DJs, the EVOX speaker family comes face to face with its twin brothers, EVOXJ8 and EVOXJMIX8. The self-powered speakers have the same footprint as the EVOX 8 with extended bass response. The JMIX8 includes a studio-quality 8-channel digital mixer with remote control and Bluetooth audio streaming. Both the speakers are available in black and white.

Built on the rich analog legacy found in the professional mixing E series, the new F Series Analog Mixer family comprises four fully-featured mixers from six to 16 channels, offering multi-FX, Single Control Compressors and Recording capabilities (except for the F 6X).

The best-selling HDL Touring System welcomes the new flyable sub HDL 38-AS, and the rugged point source 15” high-powered HDP 45-A—all compatible with RCF’s proprietary RDNet Networked Management. The touring-ready D-Line HD 15-A and HD 35-A are the latest additions to the 15” family, boasting an innovative design and top-of-the-line performance.

The professional RCF Touring & Theatre range has expanded, with five top-quality speakers; these follow the TT+ no-compromise philosophy, which includes the shared RDNet networked management platform. Starting with the TTP/TTL 4-A, RCF has developed a new variety of flexible arrayable speakers, with a 100° x 50° dispersion on the TTP Point Source speaker and 100° x 25° on the TTL Linear Source speaker. Because of the innovative rigging concept and a rotatable/swappable waveguide, the TTP/TTL 4-A warrants the “Solution Speakers” nickname.

The RDNet Networked Management sees improvements with the 3.2 release, such as real-time air compensation, the inclusion of the Shape Designer, the RCF two-dimensional simulation software and the new Bass Shaper function, to achieve the desired timbre on low frequencies and maintain the desired tonal balance across the entire system.

First, dispel the notion you have of the color guard you remember accompanying the local high school band at halftime of the football game. These are fully choreographed arena presentations. A fusion of art, dance, theater and music; modern day color guard performances are complete theatrical presentations. Fully choreographed and costumed with rifles, flags, batons and sabres flying in the air.

More than 1000 Guard from around the world converged on Ohio in mid-April for the 2018 WGI (Winter Guard International)World Championships. Each is given 17 minutes to stage and complete a 10-minute performance.

One corps, the Bluecoats Indoor, brought a new sonic dimension this year to color guard presentations with the integration audio into their performance set design. First, the evolution of the Bluecoats audio for the drum corps.

In 2016, the Bluecoats ushered in an era of change to drum corps activity, a sister activity to WGI, shedding the militaristic sense of style and audio. The corps hit the field in an all-white with a more theatrical look integrating movable slides while they performed. Then they added multiple stacks of sound to help integrate the visual with the audio. These innovative additions led them to the Gold Medal at the DCI (Drum Corps International) World Championships in 2016. The very next year the activity followed suit in both audio and the theatrical design.

Now in 2018, the Bluecoats are once again bringing change to the format of color guard with the dynamic they have added to the color guard performance with incorporating audio into the performance program bringing a new concept to the competition.

“This is an incredibly inspiring and exciting time for the Bluecoats,” says Bluecoats Tour Administrator Chris Drake. “Renowned for their outdoor corps, this is the debut for the Bluecoats Indoor color guard.” It was Artistic Director Jon Vanderkolff who brought the new image to the drum and bugle corps while now extending his creativity to the WGI activity. As Vanderkolff holds an Emmy Award and a Tony Award for his visual design of the Broadway show Blast!, he sought to bring a theatrical presence to the Bluecoats performances. His involvement with the Bluecoats dates back to 2013. While the drum line was one of the premiere corps musically, Vanderkolff brought a new level of creativity the group had never seen. And he’s now done that with the Bluecoats Indoor.

FICO Eataly World, the largest agri-food park in the world covering more than 100,000 mq, and located just outside Bologna, was opened on 15 November 2017. The new park showcases 150 Italian food companies to an estimated 6 million visitors. The Fabbrica Italiana COntadina (FICO) Eataly World has two ambitious goals: to attract visitors from all over the world, and to represent Italy with all its top-quality products and biodiversity, mixing Italy's food and wine traditions with innovation and research in the agri-food sector.

The park, jointly managed by the two major Italian food players, Eataly andCoop, includes 2 hectares of fields and open-air stalls, and 8 hectares hosting: 40 factories; 40 shops, markets, and eateries; areas dedicated to sport, children, reading, and services; 6 classrooms; 6 large, educational "fairgrounds", a theatre and cinema; a modular conference centre for 50to 1000 people and a Foundation with 3 universities.

In 1905 Evangelical Lutheran national church leaders envisioned a new mission in Madison, Wisconsin that would use English as the primary language and service the students at the University of Wisconsin. With that, a small Bible study group founded Luther Memorial. From these humble beginnings, the congregation grew and in 1923 they dedicated their new church building, hailed as the “Cathedral of the Northwest.” A Madison landmark now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the neo-Gothic architecture reminds one of a European cathedral. The building stands tall in the heart of the University of Wisconsin campus despite the challenges it has faced over the decades including fires, threats of bankruptcy, a bombing and cultural shifts with the denomination itself.

These days, the church services the intergenerational faith community in the region of the state’s capital. Entering the nave, a stone living-water font greets worshippers into this architecturally stunning worship space. The floor plan is laid out in traditional cruciform design. With 40-foot high arched ceiling, a domed apse frames an ornate centerpiece that rises two stories above the altar with a statue of Jesus Christ looking down watching over his flock. On either side, ornamental organ pipes add to the majestic look with their 56-rank Austin pipe organ and Steere tracker organ. When trying to define the church itself, Walt Miner writes in The History of Luther Memorial Church,“In daily speech it’s often a building, but also an organization, a religious fellowship, a pattern of changing activities and goals springs over more than a hundred years.” He continues, “It is made – and continuously remade – by the One who says ‘Behold, I make all things new.’”

RCF would like to thank you for visiting the booth at the Prolight + Sound show 2018. We presented many products and we received positive feedbacks from all our visitors. Feel free to contact our RCF staff for more information about our range of products!